A vicious-looking martial arts-style knife was seized by police at Chester Railway Station during an operation aimed at deterring criminals from using the county’s public transport network.
Operation Division brought together local officers with their British Transport Police counterparts at Chester and Crewe stations supported by specialist resources such as roads policing and dog units.
After an early morning briefing with officers in the city centre, Cheshire Chief Constable Simon Byrne took to the streets of Chester, accompanying officers as they patrolled the Station Road area, conducting intelligence-led stop checks of cars and carrying out searches where appropriate.
A 42-year-old local man was arrested early in the operation at Chester railway station, having been found in possession of the martial-arts style knife pictured.
Rush hour road and rail commuters at both Chester and Crewe would have seen a high profile police presence as part of the operation last Tuesday, March 31.
Fare dodgers apprehended and taxis checked
More than 20 individuals were stop-checked by officers and key intelligence reports were submitted. Two ‘fare dodgers’ were apprehended by officers and two men were dealt with under the Misuse Of Drugs Act in relation to their possession of cannabis.
On the roads, almost fifty taxis were checked by police vehicle examiners and local taxi enforcement officers, resulting in a number of penalty notices being issued for defective vehicles. Seven cars were seized for having no valid insurance, tax or MOT.
Superintendent Luke McDonnell who oversaw the operation said: “This was an excellent opportunity to work in conjunction with our counterparts at the British Transport Police to identify and deter known criminals from using the rail networks of our county to assist them in their crimes.
“It is only right and proper that the majority of the law-abiding public of Cheshire should be able to go about their daily commute to work, or college/university in the knowledge that they are in a safe environment.
“Whilst this type of policing takes place every day at our railway stations and on our road networks, today’s operation involved a higher concentration of resources in the target areas.
“The operation presented the opportunity for us to offer a highly visible and reassuring presence to commuters and the opportunity to engage with our local communities and offer them crime prevention help and advice on their morning commute.”
Superintendent McDonnell continued: “My officers and staff have received lots of positive feedback from the public in both Crewe and Chester who told us they felt reassured with our presence.
“The operation was a real success in providing us not only with tangible results in terms of arrests and stop-checks, but with valuable information and intelligence that we can now continue to develop with our partner agencies.”
